While the two headed Roman god Janus, who inspired the name of our current month, would like us to reflect on the past as well as the year ahead many of us think of January in terms of winter “whites” from sales to snow. As this is the first month of the new year, we can mentally consider the empty white page of a new calendar journal. How else does white figure into our lives?
When you visit an art gallery and your eyes feast upon a color field painting, say by artist Mark Rothko, you could be looking at mostly red square canvas. But what happens when you leave the painting. Your eyes experience a color after image in green. But when you look at a white canvas what happens?
White Painting, Robert Ryan 1961
How do you feel gazing upon white? Does it help to clear your mind? Some suggest that when we are anxious we can mentally surround ourselves with white light. In our interior spaces, we often associate white with a clean, calming and relaxing environment. Indeed the absence of color in the winter scene with a beautiful white carpet of glistening snow will provide a dreamlike scenario. Indoors again, where white dominates in the selection of furniture, furnishings, walls, carpet and accessories – you are on the way to creating a Zen- like sacred space. Nature has a reason to make white and the absence of vibrant color available to us in the winter months…because our metabolism tends to slow down. On a cautionary note for our interior spaces, white is good as long as there is variety in texture and shape present in our decorative choices. Realistically, a pop of color should be inserted into the scheme especially in our active spaces.
Enjoy January’s journey in white!
My winter view in white and slate gray
Bette